1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to portable devices and their methods of use, which assist in moving patients positioned on beds, gurneys, or other such patient supports. More particularly, the invention relates to portable devices and their methods of use, which enable a single health care worker to perform a patient pullup, roll the patient to a desired position, reposition the patient, or laterally transfer the patient to another patient support.
2. Background of the Invention
Partially or totally incapacitated persons in hospitals, nursing homes, or other assisted care settings must often be periodically and routinely pulled up from a slumped position, rolled over, or transferred between patient supports such as beds and gurneys. Two or more attendants typically do these maneuvers manually; although the number of attendants required to perform a maneuver increases with the size and weight of the patient.
It is often desirable for patients to lie on platforms in which the head portion of the platform has been raised or angled upwardly. Often, to obtain the most benefit and comfort from a bed in this raised position, the patient should be disposed such that the patient""s abdomen and thorax are in an elevated position. However, totally or partially incapacitated patients tend to slide or slump out of this position toward the foot of the bed, thereby losing the healthful benefits of a more upright position.
Another activity frequently required of caregivers is patient rollover. Patient rollover is necessary for maintaining patient comfort, facilitating examination, and preventing bed sores from forming.
A third activity is transporting the patient between patient supports, such as a bed to a gurney or cart, a cart to an operating or procedural table, etc. Generally speaking, this includes maneuvering the patient to another location.
Another activity is that of transporting beds containing bedridden patients. A large patient and a bed can weigh over 400 pounds. The transport of such a weight by pushing can place a severe strain on the attendant as well as creating a control problem. A heavily loaded bed, once in motion, can be difficult to stop.
Typically, space is limited in hospital and assisted care rooms. Therefore, devices to effect patient pullups, rollovers, or transfers must either occupy a minimum amount of space (if kept in the room) or be transported in and out of the room when required. Activities, such as pullups, are typically performed at frequent intervals and it is usually not feasible to transport equipment to and from a room to perform a patient pullup every two hours. However, if such a device used for pullup is to be stored in one of these rooms, the device must occupy a minimum of the limited space available and should be placed so that the pullup will be efficiently accomplished.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,827,642, issued to Huff on Mar. 25, 1958, discloses a device for moving a patient on a bed. The device includes a shaft mounted in ball bearing brackets. The brackets are bolted or otherwise secured to the headposts of the bed. Straps for a fabric webbing are secured to the shaft and a fabric supporting section is secured to the straps. A crank handle is removably secured to one end of the shaft. A patient lying on the fabric supporting section is pulled toward the head of the bed by cranking, and thereby winding the straps on the shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,929, issued to Crane on Mar. 11, 1997, discloses a patient-positioning device. The positioning device includes a sheet which is placed under the patient and connected to a rope or braided line. One end of the braided line is anchored to a metal peg on the headboard. The remainder of the braided line is threaded through several pulleys. One of the pulleys is attached to a frame assembly. The patient is pulled up when the head portion of the bed is raised or by an independent motor operating to wind the line. The patient-positioning device of Crane, appears to require extensive retrofitting of beds and is not apparently transportable or suitable for various maneuvers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,774, issued to Warren on Aug. 10, 1971, discloses a patient moving device which is attached to hospital beds. The patient moving device includes an adjustable post and clamps for attaching the post to the head of a bed. A winch is mounted on the post. A patient to be pulled up is secured with apron straps and apron tabs are connected to a T-bar. The T-bar is connected to a cable. The winch is operated to wind the cable and pull the patient up. Alternatively, a harness is employed. The harness is arranged under the patient""s arm pits and connected to the T-bar before the winch is operated to pull the patient up.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,302,219, issued to Harris on Feb. 7, 1967, discloses a hospital bed and lifting and turning device. The lifting and turning device includes four vertical support members adjacent the head and foot of the bed. The vertical support members are hollow and threaded to receive the lower end of threaded members extending vertically from the vertical support members. The vertical support members are interconnected by side braces and transverse braces. A sprocket member is disposed atop each vertical member. Each sprocket member is adapted to threadably engage, and thereby raise or lower, a threaded member within the vertical support member. The drive sprockets are interconnected by an endless sprocket chain. An electric motor may be secured to one of the vertical members to drive the sprockets. Upper ends of the threaded members are provided with clamp members. Two elongated rods extend through outwardly extending portions of the clamp members. A sprocket wheel is secured to each elongated rod and separate sprocket drive chains connect sprocket wheel pairs at head and foot portions of the device. A fabric such as canvas is secured to the rods and rolled thereon. The fabric is rolled such that it will be wound on one rod and unwound from the other when the sprocket wheels are rotated. The hospital bed lifting and turning device of Harris appears to require extensive set up, is not readily transportable, and cannot effect a patient pullup or lateral transfer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,371, issued to Fuller on Aug. 13, 1996, discloses a bed patient turning, lifting and transporting apparatus with a mobile, folding and knock-down frame. The apparatus does appear to be conveniently mobile and requires extensive set up before being used. The apparatus of Fuller also requires significant overhead space and could interfere or impede other necessary activities performed by medical personnel in attendance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,905, issued to Palmer et al. on Aug. 26, 1997, discloses a patient transfer/turning bed. The patient transfer/turning bed of Palmer et al. includes powered rotating drive rollers on each side of the bed""s mattress. The drive rollers are connected to articulating arms which pivot about an axis near the center of the head end and the foot end of the bed. A transfer/turning sheet removably connects the drive rollers. By raising the drive roller on one side of the bed, a patient will be rolled over toward the opposite side. The patient may also be transferred laterally across the bed by turning the drive rollers. In addition to requiring extensive bed retrofit, the patient transfer/turning bed of Palmer et al., is not readily transportable and cannot effect a patient pullup.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,665,432 issued to Butler on Jan. 12, 1954, discloses a patient transferring device. The patient transferring device of Butler is disclosed as including a roller mounted to a gurney. A pull unit is attached to the roller by a series of hooks and attaches to a transfer sheet. Although capable of effecting a type of lateral patient transfer, the patient transferring device of Butler cannot effect either a patient pullup or patient rollover.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,733,452, issued to Tanney on Feb. 7, 1956, discloses a hospital patient transfer device. The patient transfer device of Tanney is adapted to be mounted on a wheeled stretcher so that a patient may be transferred from a hospital bed to the stretcher or from the stretcher to the bed. The patient transfer device includes one roller mounted on the bed and another roller mounted on the stretcher. A cable is wound on one of the rollers and tracks thereby pulling a sheet from the stretcher while the sheet is guided beneath a patient disposed on the bed. After the patient and sheet are positioned, the sheet is wound on the roller mounted on the stretcher, thereby transferring the patient. The hospital patient transfer device of Tanney appears to require extensive bed and stretcher retrofit and cannot function either to pull a patient up or effect a patient rollover.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,047 issued to DiMatteo on Oct. 11, 1988, discloses a multiple function invalid bed arrangement for transferring a prone patient longitudinally or laterally between beds or surfaces adapted to accept the patient in a prone position. The longitudinal bed transfer is accomplished by equipping the patient""s bed with two rollers, one roller at the head and one roller at the foot of the bed. A bed sheet is connected from the head to the foot roller much like a piano roll. The rollers are rotated to transfer the patient to a second bed which is equipped similarly. Thus, the multiple function invalid bed arrangement of DiMatteo appears to require extensive bed retrofit and cannot effect patient maneuvering without such retrofitting.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,938 issued to Knouse on Sep. 16, 1989, discloses a transportable patient mover and moving method. The patient mover moves a patient laterally from a first to a second surface such as from a bed to a gurney. The patient mover includes a bottom stand member and an upstanding support frame carrying an elongated roller. The support frame may be mounted on wheels or casters. One edge of a web-like sheet material is attached to the roller. The other edge of the web material is attached to a clamp. A transfer sheet disposed beneath a patient is secured by the clamp and the roller winds the web thereon, thereby transferring the sheet and patient thereon. The patient mover of Knouse does not appear suitable for remaining in a small hospital room between uses without interfering with essential activities.
There is a need for a portable device, which can enable a single attendant to effect patient pullups, rollovers, and lateral transfers, which is readily transportable, and which may be conveniently stored in a patient""s room between uses. Further there is a need for a device that will allow a single attendant to relocate beds containing bedridden patients without transferring them out of the bed.
This invention meets the needs of the industry by providing a portable device for maneuvering a patient who is located on a support platform. The support platform may be configurable to a generally horizontal position or otherwise. A pliable underlayment designed for use with the portable patient transfer device may be disposed between the patient and the support. The device is operable by a single person or operator and may include a housing, a motor winch assembly at least partially disposed within said housing, one or more strap and hook assemblies comprising transfer straps and transfer hooks and at least one mating assembly. Furthermore, some embodiments of the invention are capable of transporting a patient on a patient support under the control of an attendant.
The strap and hook assemblies may be windably attachable to the motor winch assembly and comprises transfer straps operably connected to the transfer hooks. The mating assembly may be in electrical communication with the motor winch assembly and/or may include a mechanism for stabilizing the device. The stabilizing mechanism may be actuated by contacting a first member of the patient support and may also be in electrical communication with an internal or external power source. It is noted that the power source may be internal to the patient support thereby providing power to the transfer device when plugged into the patient support. The stabilizing mechanism may also include a locking mechanism accommodated by the support.
The strap and hook assemblies may include at least one strap and at least one hook. Generally, each strap may be attachable to the motor winch assembly and to one or more of the hooks. The device may further include a first base member and an optional second base member. The second base member may be locked into an extended position to further stabilize the device.
This invention also provides a method of displacing a patient. The method includes providing a device with a housing, a motor winch assembly at least partially disposed within said housing, transfer straps windably adjoined to the motor winch assembly, transfer hooks secured to the straps, and at least one mating assembly. The strap and hook assembly may be attachable to the motor winch assembly. The mating assembly may be in electrical communication with the power train and/or may include means for stabilizing the device. Next, the method includes stabilizing the device by contacting a first member of the support to the stabilizing means. The stabilizing mechanism may be actuated by contact with a first member of the support and may be placed in electrical communication with a power source when contacted with the first member of the support. Once the device is stabilized and powered, the method generally includes securing a pliable underlayment, proximate to the patient, to the strap and hook assembly. The securing of the underlayment prepares the operator to activate the device and transfer or reposition the patient by allowing the device to pull the underlayment and patient to a desired position.
The present invention encompasses several different embodiments. A first embodiment includes a modular, portable patient relocation device. The modular, portable patent relocation device includes engagement members adapted to be engaged to a patient support such as a hospital bed, gurney, cart or any other patient support. Another embodiment of the invention is particularly adapted to engage the headboard, side rails and/or footboard of a hospital bed and may include connectors to draw power from the hospital bed power supply. Yet another embodiment of the invention is configured to replace the existing hospital bed headboard, side rails and/or footboard and may be configured to draw its power supply directly from the hospital bed. A further embodiment of the invention is configured to be temporarily or permanently secured to a hospital bed frame with the pulling members routed via a series of pulleys to allow pulling from the vicinity of the hospital bed headboard, side rails and/or footboard. Yet another embodiment of the invention may further include a drive train connectable to the wheels of the hospital bed to allow for power transport of the hospital be as a whole. Yet another embodiment of the invention may include retractable upright members whereby the pulling members may be directed over the sides of the hospital bed for use in rolling over hospital patients.
A further embodiment of the invention includes a stabilizing base and rolling assembling by which the patient relocation unit may be transported on wheels making it unnecessary to carry the invention. In a variant on this embodiment of the invention, the wheel base and column may include connections to engage the electrical supply of a hospital bed to power the patient relocation unit. The column in a further embodiment of the invention may include the ability to adjust the height of the patient transfer device. The rolling transfer device may also include a clamping device for mechanically engaging the base of a hospital bed to improve stability or to allow the patient relocation device to be used as a tug to provide power to relocate the entire hospital bed along with patient.
A final embodiment of the invention may include a clamping device for engaging the base of a hospital bed that also lifts the hospital bed from the ground to allow transportation to a remote location.